Thousand Oaks twins Austin and Ian Jones enjoy kinship on the mat

Brothers are equally talented wrestlers, musicians and students

KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR
Ian Jones (left) and twin brother Austin Jones raely work against each other during wrestling practice. The Thousand Oaks seniors agree they are competitive on the mat but also are each other’s biggest fans.

Karen Quincy Loberg

Austin Jones entered the world a full two minutes before his identical twin brother Ian.

Those 120 seconds are practically the longest period of time the two brothers have been separated over the first 17 years of their lives.

The Thousand Oaks High seniors have pushed each other to excel in every aspect of their lives, including on the wrestling mat, where they are mainstays of a Lancers team that is again in the mix for a Marmonte League title.

Austin, who wrestles at 145 pounds, is 19-4 with eight pins; Ian, who wrestles at 152, is 22-5 with 11 pins.

“They are both smart and both work extremely hard,” Thousand Oaks head coach Kerry Lyne said. “They’re both good athletes are who extremely coachable.

“They do different moves on take downs but have a lot of similarities on the mat.”

Just like at birth, Austin led the way into wrestling, joining the team as a freshman. Ian chose to play basketball his first year at the school, but then saw how much fun his brother was having on the mat.

“I went to a practice over Christmas,” Ian said. “The music was blasting and everyone seemed to be having such a good time. My brother and I both did karate as kids and I did OK with that, so I decided to make the switch my sophomore year.

“It’s really challenging but it’s also so much fun. And my close friends are all in this (wrestling) room.”

That includes his best friend Austin.

Like most brothers, they wrestled around while growing up, never imagining it would become their sport of choice later in life.

They are similar in body type, giving each brother a full-time practice partner. Inside the wrestling room, they seldom work against each other, but at home or at camps, they love going toe to toe.

“We’re competitive but not in a negative way,” Austin said. “We push each other. At practice, I might look over and see him pushing himself and that motivates me to push myself to work harder. It helps both of us to get better.

“As competitive as we are, we are each other’s biggest fans. I root hard for him when he’s wrestling and he does the same for me. I love having him as a teammate.”

While both Austin and Ian are gifted grapplers, their talents extend well beyond the wall of the wrestling room.

They also excel in the classroom, each carrying a GPA well above 4.0 while taking honors classes.

Their parents, Wayne and Amy Jones, are both professional musicians. Wayne is a television and film composer, song writer and record producer. Amy is a classically trained musician who was a performing pianist before having her sons.

Valdez has volunteered at the clinic for a number of years and is also a board member.

“I have known the twins since there freshman year, both as students and wrestlers, and in both areas they have shown me that they know what it is to commit to a goal or activity,” Valdez said.

As much as the twins enjoy hanging out together, they figured they might have to go their separate ways once they were done with high school.

But both excelled on the SATs, and last spring they visited Stanford. They quickly decided to go through the early application process.

“When you apply early to Stanford, you can’t apply to any other school until you get your decision from them,” Austin said. “Stanford was at the top of the list for both of us, so we decided it worth taking that chance.”

Fittingly, they got word while competing at a wrestling tournament at Camarillo — receiving emails at the same moment.

They huddled together and simultaneously clicked. A moment later, each saw the “Congratulations” appear on their phones.

“We feel lucky and a little surprised that we both got in,” Austin said. “I felt like we were going to get the same decision because the folks at Stanford realize how tough it would be for one twin to make it and the other not.”

They have decided not to room together. Ian admits not seeing Austin every day would be hard to imagine.

They are currently getting a taste of what it’s like to be separated. While Austin is working hard toward Thursday’s showdown with Royal, Ian traveled with his mother to the Philippines for a medical aid trip. He will be gone for two weeks, getting a chance to help doctors and even observe a few surgeries.

“It’s going to be weird because it will be the longest we’ve been away from each other,” Ian said. “It gives us a chance to see what it might be like at college.”

The twins won’t wrestle in college, choosing to focus on academics, so this season is their final one on the mat together.

“I love the sport and will really miss it,” Ian said. “It’s been a great release for both of us. Being part of it is something I will always be happy I did.”